


life’s batter with you

by someone_stupid



Category: Pitch Perfect (Movies)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, F/F, just another fic where one of them is good in the kitchen and the other one sucks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-13
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-18 13:02:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,130
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29983272
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/someone_stupid/pseuds/someone_stupid
Summary: “Chloe, it’s going to be fine.”“How, Beca? Because unless you’re secretly an amazing baker, I don’t see how this is going to work out.”Beca rolled her lips and avoided eye contact with Chloe.Chloe immediately sat up, “Oh my god. Oh my god! Are you secretly an amazing baker?”orBeca’s secretly good at baking and Chloe, very much, is not.
Relationships: Chloe Beale/Beca Mitchell
Comments: 21
Kudos: 140





	life’s batter with you

**Author's Note:**

> i spent the last couple days writing an angsty fic, but i took a break to make cookies and suddenly this happened. idk i might have been possessed.  
> p.s.  
> i hope you like the pun in the title <3

Chloe walked through the front door and slammed it behind her, “Beeeccaaaaaa,” she whined.

Beca was sitting on the couch in the living room with her laptop and a cup of coffee. She tossed a glance over to Chloe before looking back to her computer, “Oh, hey Chlo.” 

After graduation, Beca set off to LA to be a music producer like she had always planned. Chloe, on the other hand, didn't have a big plan for how she was going to spend the rest of her life. She had ideas here and there, but nothing ever stuck. After a long six months back at her parents house and countless phone calls with Beca and Aubrey, Chloe took the time to seriously consider a future as an elementary school teacher. The more she thought about it, the more right it felt, but nothing felt more right than when Beca asked Chloe to move into her house in LA. 

Chloe had finished all of her certifications by the time the next September rolled around, and found a job as a kindergarten teacher at the public elementary school about fifteen minutes from their house.

It wasn't the first time they lived together, but they were spending significantly more time alone than they ever had before. Chloe knew that she had a crush on her best friend while they were at Barden, but somewhere in between seeing her grumpy face every morning before coffee, and sitting across from her at their dinner table every night, Chloe realized that she was totally and hopelessly (and unrequitedly) in love with Beca.

“Beeeecccaaaaaa,” Chloe set her bag down by the door and shuffled over to the couch. She sat heavily on the couch next to Beca. She looked over but Beca still hadn't looked up from her laptop, “Bec, I'm having a crisis, this kinda requires your full attention.”

“Oh, sorry,” Beca closed her laptop and set it on the coffee table. She sat back and turned to face Chloe, “Okay, I'm ready. What's the crisis?”

“There's a bake sale at school tomorrow and I signed up to bring four dozen cupcakes.”

Beca's eyes bulged out of their sockets, “You? Baking? I feel like I need to preemptively call the fire department.”

Chloe fell back on the couch and put her arm over her face, “This is a _travesty_.”

“Oh my god,” Beca smiled at her best friend's antics, “Stop being so dramatic.”

Chloe moved her arm and lifted her head to look at Beca, “Becs, you don’t understand, this bake sale is my first ever fundraiser as a _real_ teacher, I can’t afford to mess this up,” she flopped her head back down and Beca had to stifle her laugher at the way Chloe's head bounced on the cushion, “ _Oh god,_ they’re never gonna trust me with anything again. Now, they’re gonna fire me, and I’m going to be unemployed forever, and I’ll have to live in your basement for the rest of my life, and when you have people over they’ll ask why they can’t go downstairs and you’ll have to be like ‘my deadbeat friend lives down there, she ruined her whole life becuase of a stupid bake sale,’” Chloe whined.

“Chloe, it’s going to be fine,” Beca reassured.

“How, Beca? Because unless you’re secretly an amazing baker, I don’t see how this is going to work out.”

Beca rolled her lips and avoided eye contact with Chloe.

Chloe immediately sat up, “Oh my god,” Beca tried to stand up, but Chloe quickly moved from her spot to straddle her lap, “Oh my god! Are you secretly an amazing baker?”

“I mean, I wouldn’t call myself amazing—”

“Beca!” Chloe started slapping her hands at Beca, “How did I never know this?”

“Okay, stop that,” Beca flailed until she caught Chloe's wrists and held them so she couldn’t hit her anymore.

“You have to help me! Please, please, please, please, _please_ ,” Chloe begged.

“I don't know,” Beca pushed Chloe off her lap, “I haven't baked anything since high school.”

Chloe sat as close to Beca as possible, “But you did so without burning the house down, right?”

“Well, yeah.”

“Good enough for me,” Chloe folded her hands and tucked them under her chin, “Please, Becs, _please_ ,” She pushed out her bottom lip for good measure.

Beca rolled her eyes and let out a loud groan, “ _Fine_ , I'll help.”

Chloe threw her arms around Beca, “Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

“I won't be able to help you if you suffocate me,” Beca's voice was muffled against Chloe’s chest where she was being held.

“Oops,” Chloe pulled away, “Sorry.”

Beca stood up from the couch as soon as she was released. Chloe could have sworn she saw her blush, but wrote it off as being due to her accidental asphyxiation.

“Where are you going?” Chloe called out to Beca as she walked down the hall.

“Grabbing my keys,” Beca walked back into the living room with her keys pinched in between her thumb and forefinger, “We definitely don't have enough ingredients here.”

Chloe turned backwards on the couch on her knees and rested her arms along the back in order to face Beca, “We don't have to go crazy, I'm sure the boxed stuff—” 

Beca cut her off with a scoff, “Please, Beale, we are better than box mix.”

* * *

Beca and Chloe each had their hands full of groceries when they walked in the door. One of the handles of Chloe’s bags broke on their porch, and she had to speedwalk to the island once Beca unlocked the front door to make sure she didn't drop all of its contents on the ground. She just barely made it to their kitchen and set the bag down in time.

Beca walked in and set her bags on the counter, “Jeez, be careful with the precious cargo.”

“Yeah, our precious flour and cocoa powder.”

Beca let out a sarcastic gasp, “I will have you know that is the finest dutch cocoa powder that our grocery store carries. That small box was almost fifteen dollars.”

Chloe took off her jacket and set it on the back of one of their kitchen chairs, “Bec, you really don't have to do this much work. Is just an elementary school bake sale.”

Beca walked out of the kitchen and into their hall closet, “I'm pretty sure you called it a ‘crisis’ earlier today.”

Chloe ignored her, “What are you doing?”

Beca walked back into the kitchen with an apron around her neck and another in her hand, “Grabbing aprons.”

“We have aprons?”

Beca let out a soft laugh before putting the second apron over Chloe's head, “Turn around,” she did as she was told and felt Beca tying the apron around her waist. Chloe held her breath with Beca so close, she could feel the warmth of Beca’s hands through the thin material of her tee shirt. Beca’s voice carried over her shoulder, “Is that too tight?” she spoke softly and right into Chloe's ear.

“No,” She hoped Beca didn't notice the quiver in her voice, “That's perfect.”

“Good,” Chloe turned back around to face Beca, “Can you do mine?”

She nodded her head and Beca turned around and let Chloe tie her apron. Chloe couldn’t help herself from making sure her fingers brushed Beca’s back while she made the ties into a neat bow. She thought she heard Beca’s breath hitch, but she wasnt positive.

“All done,” Chloe gave a sharp smack to Beca’s ass.

Beca let out a squeak and turned around, “Dude.”

“ _Dude_ ,” Chloe mimicked.

Beca rolled her eyes and walked back into the closet. She came back with a step stool and set it in front of the fridge. Chloe watched as she climbed the stool and was momentarily distracted by the strip of bare skin that appeared after Beca’s shirt lifted as she raised her arms to open the cabinet above the fridge. Chloe’s eyes lingered before they were drawn to the open cabinet. 

Chloe realized in that moment that in her entire time living in that house, she had never taken the time to investigate what resided in the space above their fridge. If she had, she would have seen countless cookbooks, most of them were old and looked to be well used. Beca didn’t grab any of the books though, instead she grabbed a small tin box and climbed back down.

Beca set the box on the counter and took off the lid. Chloe walked over next to Beca to look inside the box. It was full of note cards with recipes that had been handwritten in cursive. 

Beca started to look through the note cards before pulling one out. Chloe read the title at the top of the card, ‘ _Extra Moist Chocolate Cake’._

“Is this what we’re making?”

“Mhm,” Beca hummed and passed the card to Chloe, “My grandma spent years perfecting the recipe, it’s honestly the best cake I’ve ever had.”

Chloe flipped the card over and saw a buttercream frosting recipe that had notes for how to make a chocolate buttercream too. She gently passed the card back to Beca.

Beca took her phone out of her pocket and took a picture of both sides of the recipe before slipping the note card back in the tin.

Chloe raised a single eyebrow in question.

“I don’t want to get the recipe all dirty,” Chloe hummed at her answer. Beca turned back to the step stool to return the tin to the cabinet, “We both know how much of a trainwreck you can be in the kitchen.”

Chloe gasped, “I resent that!”

Beca laughed and shook her head while she returned the step stool. She came back and unpacked the grocery bags on the counter. She set aside the cupcake tins and liners, but left most of the ingredients on the counter, besides the ones that needed to be refrigerated, “We’re probably gonna have to do two batches of twenty-four because we don’t want to overload the mixer.”

Chloe watched as Beca opened up a lower cabinet by the oven, “We have a mixer?”

Beca turned around with a white Kitchen-Aid stand mixer in her arms, “Yes, Chloe, we have a mixer,” She put the mixer on the island, “Can you grab some of the big plastic bowls?” 

Chloe turned around and looked at all of the cabinets then turned back to Beca, “Where are they?”

Beca looked up from where she was plugging in the mixer, “Under the drawer with the whisks.”

Chloe stood staring at Beca.

Beca sighed, “Furthest left cabinet on the island.”

Chloe walked over and opened the cabinet, and lo-and-behold, there were the plastic bowls. She grabbed the whole stack and set them on the counter. Beca had gotten out the measuring cups and a sifter after wiping down the counter. 

Beca finished prepping the island and turned to Chloe, “Okay, first things first, we wash our hands.”

Beca walked over to the sink and turned on the faucet. She was in the middle of washing her hands when Chloe came over and hip-checked her out of the way. Chloe took Beca’s spot and began washing her hands. Beca held her soapy hands away from her body and tried to shove her way back into the sink. Chloe planted her feet and used her height and strength advantage to keep Beca away.

Chloe finished and grabbed the towel to dry her hands. She giggled watching Beca grumble under her breath while she rinsed off her hands, “Hurry up, Becs. What's taking you so long?”

Beca walked over and ripped the towel from Chloe's hands, “Bitch,” Beca walked over to hang the towel up, “Can you grab me a small saucepan?” She looked over her shoulder at Chloe who hadn't moved from her spot, “Nevermind.”

Chloe watched her pull a saucepan out of one of the cabinets on the island and use a liquid measuring cup to fill it with water, “What's that for?”

Beca put the saucepan on the stove and turned it on, “Trust the process, Beale.” She pulled her hair back into a loose bun and Chloe followed suit. Beca turned on the oven to preheat and walked back over to Chloe. She pulled out her phone to bring up the picture she took of the recipe, “We are gonna start by getting together all of our dry ingredients. So, first we need the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt.”

Chloe pulled all of the ingredients that Beca listed off closer. Beca walked around Chloe to grab one of the plastic bowls she had gotten out. Beca set the sifter in the bowl and opened up the box of cocoa. She handed Chloe the box and one of the measuring cups.

“Put three of these,” Beca pointed to the measuring cup, “into here,” She pointed to the sifter over the bowl.

“Yes, ma’am,” Chloe teased, but did as she was told.

Chloe watched as Beca used a knife to tap and level off the flour in her own measuring cup before dumping the flour into the sifter, “Can I borrow that?” Beca asked, gesturing to the measuring cup Chloe was still holding. Chloe handed the cup over and Beca tapped the excess cocoa powder off in the sink before using it in the flour. Beca grabbed the sifter and gently tapped it against her hand to sift the flour and the cocoa. She finished and handed Chloe the salt and the teaspoon measure, “Add one of these,” Chloe did as she was told while Beca added the baking soda and the baking powder to the dry mix. 

“What now?” Chloe asked.

“Now,” Beca grabbed the bowl of the dry ingredients, “We put these into the mixer,” she gently poured the contents of the bowl into the metal bowl of the mixer and set the bowl back down, “And then, we add the sugar and the espresso.”

Chloe pushed the used ingredients away from their workspace and grabbed the sugar and the espresso powder. 

Beca picked up her phone again to read the recipe, “All right, we need two cups of sugar and one teaspoon of the espresso powder.”

Chloe opened the bag of sugar and passed it to Beca as well as the cup measure. Beca put in the two cups of sugar and Chloe was ready to pass her the espresso when she finished.

“Has anyone ever told you that you’re an amazing assistant baker?” Beca put the espresso in the mixing bowl.

“No,” Chloe moved the sugar with the other used ingredients, “Normally, they just kick me out of the kitchen when I try to help.”

Beca hummed, “That’s a shame, you’re pretty good at this.”

Chloe took espresso and put it next to the sugar, “Maybe we just make a good team.”

“Maybe,” They had a moment where they just looked at each other before Beca spoke, “Okay, now we mix these all together. The trick is to go slow so it doesn’t all puff up,” Beca turned the mixer on low until all of the ingredients were combined, “Next, we do the wet stuff.”

Chloe snorted at the way Beca phrased the sentence.

“Shut up,” Chloe could see Beca trying to hide her smile. The water started boiling on the stove, so Beca walked over to turn off the burner, “Can you grab the eggs and buttermilk from the fridge? Make sure you shake the buttermilk really well too, put those guns to good use.”

“Yes, sir,” Chloe took the carton of eggs and buttermilk out of the fridge. She set the eggs on the counter and began to shake the bottle of buttermilk. She couldn't help but to giggle at the motion, “Been a while since I've done this,” She purposely shook the bottle with one hand in short, fast vertical movements.

Beca turned away from the stove to look at her, Chloe noticed the way her eyes were glued to her arm for a moment, “Gross,” Beca looked away with a blush on her cheeks.

Chloe watched Beca walk back over to the island to where she was standing, “Here,” she handed the bottle over. Beca took the bottle and twisted off the cap. Chloe let out a huge gasp, “Bec, look! It even kinda looks like—”

“Dude!” Beca cut her off with a screech.

Chloe couldn't hold back her laughter at the scarlet color of Beca’s cheeks.

“I hate you so much,” Beca grumbled while grabbing a small plastic bowl.

“No, you don’t,” Chloe said with a bright smile.

“Whatever,” Beca rolled her eyes, “Think you can crack eggs in this bowl without getting any shells in there?”

Chloe took the bowl from Beca’s hands and grabbed two eggs from the carton, “One way to find out.”

Chloe managed to crack the eggs with little hazard, the first egg completely broke, but she started over and the other two went smoothly. Beca put the buttermilk, the eggs, and the oil in the mixer and slowly mixed it until it was all combined.

Beca turned off the mixer, She grabbed the saucepan of water using a pot holder to support the bottom.

“Are you finally gonna tell me what that’s all about?” Chloe asked watching Beca carry the water over to the mixer.

“Well,” Beca set the saucepan down to turn the mixer on low, “The hot water helps to reduce the amount of gluten that can form from the flour in the batter. You know how you have to knead most doughs when you make them?” She looked over at Chloe who nodded her head, “Well, that's because it activates the gluten from the flour and makes it more springy and chewy, which is what you want for bread, but not so much for cake. We want our cake to be moist,” She slowly started to pour the water into the batter, Beca had obviously picked out a pan with a small spout for a reason, “The water also helps to bloom the chocolate for a richer flavor, and it brings the flavour out of the espresso powder,” Beca turned off the mixer once all the water was added.

“How do you know this much about baking?”

Beca walked over to the stove to return to the saucepan, “My grandma taught me.”

When Beca didn’t elaborate anymore, Chloe assumed that would be the end of the conversation. After years of knowing and learning the ins-and-outs of Beca Mitchell, Chloe knew that if she pushed, it would take her nowhere. If Beca wanted her to know, she would tell her. She wasn’t the type to hide things just for them to be found, they had to be earned, they had to be gifted.

Chloe decided to change the subject, “Is the batter all ready?”

“Yup,” Beca pulled over the cupcake tins and the liners, she handed half of the liners to Chloe for them to each prepare a tray, “After my dad left, me and my mom had to move in with my grandma,” Chloe was fully prepared to just move on with their baking, but she let Beca speak while continuing with the liners, “She needed the extra help, especially because she had to get a second job to support us both.” 

When they finished with the liners, Beca turned and grabbed two small ladles from a drawer before handing one of them to Chloe. Chloe watched Beca scoop some of the thin batter into the ladle and pour it into one of the lined cups, “How much do I put in?” Chloe asked while scooping some of the batter in her own ladle.

“Fill it about halfway,” Beca didn’t look up from where she was working, but continued her story, “I got mixed up with a bad group when I was, like, a sophomore. Mostly, I was just angry with the world and wanted a way to rebel or something. One time, we got arrested for breaking and entering at the elementary school.” 

Chloe glanced over at Beca, “Why were you breaking into the elementary school?”

“My friends liked to go there to drink and smoke, I think they liked the idea of ‘defiling such an innocent place’ or whatever,” Beca shrugged her shoulder, “It was my first time going with them, I didn’t even get the chance to do anything before the cops showed up. We got let off with a warning, but my grandma was the only one home when they called my house, so she came to pick me up. She said she would never tell my mom what happened, as long as from then on, I came straight home everyday after school. I wasn’t stupid, so of course I agreed. I was so pissed that Monday when the first thing she did when I walked through the door was put an apron on me. She told me that I could either help make bread for dinner, or she would tell my mom what happened. I figured helping her was better than whatever punishment my mom could come up with. Before I knew it, I was hooked. Almost everyday after school for like two years we would bake together. It’s kinda lame, but it kept me out of trouble.”

“It’s not lame, It actually sounds really nice,” Chloe never had anyone take the time to teach her how to cook or bake. Her mother would normally get frustrated with her inability to help and ban Chloe from the kitchen. She eventually stopped trying all together. Chloe watched Beca grab a rubber spatula to scrape the rest of the batter out of the mixing bowl.

“She passed away part way through my senior year, and it just felt wrong to do it without her. I actually haven’t baked anything since. Well, until now, I guess.”

Chloe set her ladle in the empty mixing bowl and turned to Beca, “Well, I’m honored to be a part of your return to the baking world.”

Beca looked back at her, “I wouldn’t have anyone else by my side.”

Chloe couldn’t help but to imagine what it would feel like to hear those words coming from Beca’s mouth in a different context. How it would feel to wake up next to Beca every morning, fall asleep next to her every night, and hear her say those words.

She was shaken out of her moment when Beca turned to put the cupcakes in the oven. Chloe took the mixing bowl to the sink to rinse off the batter before they had to make their next batch.

“So,” Chloe called over her shoulder, “What do you do next?”

“Now, it’s your turn.”

“ _What_?” Chloe quickly turned from the sink to face Beca. Her wet hands were dripping on the floor in front of her.

Beca crossed her arms and leaned back against the counter, “You watched and helped me make the first batch, so now it’s your turn.”

Chloe grabbed the towel and started walking towards Beca, “Bec, I-I can’t do that, you—”

Beca took the towel out of her hands and put it on the island behind her, “Yes, you can. I believe in you,” Beca put her hands on Chloe’s shoulders. She looked into Beca’s eyes and tried to find any ounce of hesitation, but found none. “Besides, if anything goes wrong, I’ll be right here.”

Chloe furrowed her brows, “Promise you won’t let me wreck them or burn the house down?

Beca broke out into a soft smile, “I promise.”

* * *

Chloe couldn’t believe she actually did it.

She felt like she was flying by the seat of her pants the entire time, but somehow she did it. She couldn’t describe the warm feeling that bubbled up in her chest when Beca looked over at her with that same soft smile and told her, “See, I knew you could do it.”

Things almost went awry a couple times, and Chloe never could have trusted herself with the boiling water even with years of practice, but just as Beca had promised, she was right there the whole time. 

Once the second batch of cupcakes were in the oven, Beca declared it to be break time. They had to wait for the cupcakes to bake and cool before they could frost them so they had some time to kill. 

Chloe called in and ordered some Chinese food from Beca’s favorite restaurant. It was a bit more pricey than some other places around, but she wanted to get something special for Beca.

Their dinner arrived while Beca was taking the cupcakes out of the oven, and she was just transferring the last of them to the cooling rack by the time Chloe had set the table.

She watched the way Beca’s entire face lit up when she saw that Chloe had ordered her favorite.

“Dude, is that—”

“Yup,” Chloe gestured to the table not unlike a magician's assistant during a magic trick, “Surprise.”

“Oh my god, I love you so much.”

Chloe had to take a moment to still the rapid beating of her heart.

* * *

By the time they finished eating and cleaned up, the cupcakes had cooled significantly. Beca had set out butter earlier to soften so it would be ready in time to make the frosting. Chloe had just finished drying off the clean mixing bowl before handing it to Beca to put on the mixer.

“Chloe,” Beca walked around the counter to grab something Chloe couldn’t see, “I have an important question for you.”

Chloe rested her hands on the counter and leaned forward, “Oh, really?”

“ _Oh,_ _yes_. It might be the most important question I’ve ever asked you.”

Chloe felt her heart lurch, but tried to keep a cool face, “And what would that be?”

Beca held up a box of food coloring, “What color frosting do you want?”

Chloe let out a small laugh at the serious expression on Beca’s face, “Who says we have to pick just one?”

“I love the way your mind works.”

Chloe seriously needed Beca to stop. She needed her to stop being so charming, and funny, and vulnerable. To stop making Chloe fall further in love with her. She needed her to stop being _Beca,_ so maybe she could find her footing before she fell so far into the abyss that she would have no hope of ever finding a way out.

If Chloe was being honest, she would admit that she didn’t want Beca to stop.

And if Chloe was being _really_ honest, she would admit that she had already been falling since a certain shower duet.

Chloe had to work hard to keep the memories of that shower out of her mind because now was _not_ the time for that. Rather than focus on the naked Beca that sang Chloe’s lady-jam and lived in her memories, she decided to focus on the Beca in the kitchen with her. The Beca who was looking at her with a sly grin as she walked around the island, the Beca who was wearing jeans that were _sinfully_ tight.

_Oh my god, Chloe, get it together._

Luckily, Beca spoke and pulled Chloe out of her mind, “So, what _colors_ of frosting do you want?”

“Pink, blue, yellow, and green. Obvi.”

“Oh right, _obvi_ ,” Beca rolled her eyes and grabbed the butter, “Can you grab some bowls then?”

Chloe grabbed four bowls out of the cupboard for the frosting while Beca began to beat in butter in the mixer. She helped Beca add the powdered sugar and the vanilla extract to the mixer, before Beca added a little bit of milk to finish it off.

Beca turned off the mixer and turned to Chloe, “Do you know what is the most fundamental part of frosting making?”

“I do not,” Chloe raised a single eyebrow.

Beca leaned in like she was going to tell Chloe the most important secret of her life and brought her voice down to a whisper, “The taste test,” Chloe had to use all of her willpower to suppress a shiver at Beca’s words. She couldn't bring herself to speak as she watched Beca pull a spoon out of their silverware drawer. Beca put a little bit of frosting on the tip of the spoon and held it up to Chloe's mouth. Chloe couldn't do much more than open her mouth and allow Beca to slip the spoon between her lips.

“Mmm,” Chloe hummed, she pulled away and nodded her head.

Beca’s lips part in a small proud smile, “Yeah? It's not too sweet or anything?”

“No, Bec, it's perfect.”

“Cool,” Beca used a rubber spatula to equally split the frosting into the four bowls and grabbed the box of food coloring, “You want to do the honors?”

“Sure,” Chloe took the food coloring out of Beca's hands, “We both know you'd somehow manage to make them all brown anyway.”

“Hey, we can't all be artistic masterminds.”

Chloe turned the box around, “There's literally directions on the back for how much to add.”

“Whatever,” Beca took the mixing bowl to the sink now that they were done with it. Chloe added the appropriate amounts of food coloring to each bowl and mixed up their now colored frosting. Beca grabbed four butter knives and brought them over, “I don't have any fancy decorating tools so these will have to work.”

They began frosting the cupcakes, Chloe’s were all very neat and uniform, Beca’s, on the other hand, left a lot to be desired visually. Luckily, Chloe was also faster than Beca, so she was able to do most of them.

Chloe looked over at Beca and tried to stifle her laughter, but failed. Some of Beca’s hair had fallen out of her bun and was dangling in front of her face. In her attempts to push the hair behind her ear, she had wiped a streak of frosting along her cheek.

Beca looked over at the sound of her laughter and furrowed her brows, “What are you laughing at, weirdo?”

“You have a little—” Chloe gestured to her own cheek and laughed again when Beca tried to somehow bring her eyes down to her own cheek, “Here, let me,” Chloe took her clean thumb and gently wiped the frosting off of Beca’s face, “How are you so good at baking, but so bad at decorating?” Her voice was barely above a whisper as she pushed the chunk of hair that had caused the mess behind Beca’s ear.

When Chloe looked back to Beca’s eyes she found a familiar pair of blue ones already looking at her. Chloe was just barely able to stop her breath from hitching at the intensity of Beca’s stare.

She hadn’t quite realized until that moment how close they were standing to one another. She felt Beca’s breath on her face when she spoke just as softly as Chloe had before, “How are you so good at decorating, but so bad at getting messy?” Beca brought up a frosting-covered fingertip and swiped the frosting off on the tip of Chloe's nose.

Chloe crossed her eyes to follow her finger then looked back at Beca, “Don't start what you can't finish, Mitchell,” She brought up her hand up to her nose and wiped off the frosting. 

“What's the matter, Beale?” Beca cocked an eyebrow, “Worried you can't take me?”

Chloe stuck her tongue in her cheek and shook her head. She let out a small disbelieving laugh and wiped her hands off on a nearby paper towel, before she looked back to Beca. 

They were still for a moment before Chloe took off running towards Beca. Beca immediately let out a squeal and ran around the island to get away from Chloe.

Chloe found herself on one end of the island while Beca stood on the other. She was watching every move Beca made and everytime she jerked to the side like she was going to start running again, Chloe followed. Beca bolted towards the living room, but Chloe was hot on her tail. She thanked god that she kept up on her cardio, and caught up to Beca on her way to the couch. Chloe wrapped her arms around Beca’s waist and threw her on the couch as gently as possible.

“No!” Beca screeched when she hit the couch. She tried to get up, but Chloe straddled her waist. Beca brought up her hands to try and push Chloe's shoulders, “ _No!_ Get off of me you-you—” 

Chloe caught her wrists and pinned them above her head, “I’m not sure you're in the position to be calling me names right now,” she teased.

More of Beca’s hair had fallen out of her bun and she harshly blew out a breath to get it out of her face. When she opened her mouth more hair got into her mouth and she sputtered to try and get it out.

“Dude, a little help please?” Beca continued to try and blow the hair out of her mouth.

Chloe lifted one of her hands off of Beca’s wrists and watched her brush all the hair off of face. Chloe barely registered the wicked glint in Beca’s eyes before she used her newly freed hand to try and tickle Chloe’s side.

Chloe squirmed to get away from her hand and caught her wrist again to pin it back above her head. She held both Beca’s wrists in her left hand, which left her right hand free. She pushed her hand under Beca’s shirt and rested her fingertips right below her ribs.

Beca took a deep breath and Chloe felt her stomach cave under her hand, “You wouldn’t.”

“Wouldn’t I?” Chloe had long since learned about Beca’s ticklish spot. If she tried to get her anywhere else, Beca wouldn’t have any reaction, but that space right under her ribs was her weakness. Chloe moved her fingers ever so slightly against Beca’s skin and felt the other girl wiggle under her body.

“No!” Chloe immediately ceased her movements at Beca’s exclamation, “I'll do anything.”

“Anything?” She watched Beca nod her head. She leaned in closer to Beca’s face, “What’s the magic word?”

“Please?” Beca’s voice cracked in the middle of the word.

Chloe got off Beca and released her hands. She flashed Beca a smile and a wink before walking back to the kitchen, “Come on, Bec, we got cupcakes to frost.”

Beca sat up on the couch and looked over at Chloe who was standing back at the island, “You’re a wicked, wicked woman, Beale.”

* * *

They finished the cupcakes quickly and Beca helped Chloe set them up in containers to survive the travel to school the next morning. By the time they finished everything it was pretty late so they both headed to bed.

Chloe left for work before Beca woke up most mornings so she wasn’t surprised that her roommate was nowhere to be found the next morning. She was able to get all of the cupcakes to her car, and was paranoid the entire drive that if she turned or broke too hard they would end up on the floor.

The cupcakes were a hit at the bake sale. They were the first item to sell out, and Chloe was disappointed that she never got an opportunity to try any of them. She figured she would just have to convince Beca to make another batch, this time for just the two of them. 

Chloe considered texting Beca throughout the day to tell her how much everyone loved their cupcakes, but decided she’d rather wait until she got home to deliver the news in person. 

When she saw Beca’s car in the driveway when she came home, she couldn’t keep the smile off her face while she unlocked and opened the door, “Bec, everyone _loved_ the cupcakes,” she called out into the house not knowing which room Beca might be in, “They all sold out and people even came back asking for more,” She put her keys in the bowl by the door and walked into the living room, “Some people even tried to ask me for a recipe and I had to—” 

She stopped in her tracks as soon as she stepped into the room. The lights were dimmed and there were lit candles scattered around the kitchen and living room. The house looked to be spotless, which was a rarity for somewhere housing two people with full time jobs. The entire space smelled of chocolate just as it had the night before while they were baking. She looked over to the kitchen and saw Beca.

She was standing at the island with two glasses of red wine in front of her. She was dressed up, Chloe could tell she had taken the time to iron the white shirt she was wearing. Her hair was in soft waves and she was wearing more makeup than usual.

“Bec,” Chloe slowly began walking towards Beca, “What’s all this?”

“I just,” Beca paused like she was still trying to figure out what to say, “I wanted to do something nice for you.”

Chloe stopped once she reached Beca, “If anything I should be doing something for you after all you did for me yesterday.”

Beca smiled and looked down at her feet, “Yeah, well,” She looked back up at Chloe, “This isn’t for one specific thing, it’s more like a lot of little things that all added up, and I just want you to know how much you mean to me.”

“ _Beca,_ ” Chloe didn’t want to be hopeful. She didn’t want to believe that Beca could be saying what she thought Beca was saying just to be let down yet again. She didn’t want to, but _god_ she was hoping, _praying_.

Beca pulled a cake stand over that Chloe somehow hadn’t seen before, but she wasn’t surprised considering when Beca was in the room it was hard for her to see anything else. 

“I-um,” Beca pushed the stand in front of Chloe, “I made something for you.”

Chloe looked to Beca, “We have a cake stand?”

Beca rolled her eyes, “I’m not convinced you know where anything is in our kitchen.”

“Excuse you, I know _exactly_ which drawer holds the takeout menus.”

“Just open it,” and then as if Beca felt like she was being too demanding, “Please.”

Chloe brought her hand to the handle on the top of the cake stand. She slowly took off the lid and her breath caught in her throat at what was revealed. She immediately had to use all of her willpower to not start crying in that very moment. She turned to Beca and opened her mouth, but no sound came out.

She looked back and couldn’t take her eyes off of the cake in front of her, but she heard Beca’s voice come from beside her, “We both know I’m not as good as you at decorating, but I hope my message comes across.”

The cake itself was covered in a white buttercream frosting. There was a pink frosting border around the top and bottom of the cake. Beca must have gone to the store to buy piping bags, because she knew they didn’t have any the day before. The application was a little messy and uneven. Chloe could practically picture Beca working on it for hours trying to get it perfect. 

The part that meant the most to Chloe was the writing on the top. It looked shaky, and lopsided, and some of the letters had to get squished at the end, but Chloe could read the sentence out clearly.

“I love you.”

Chloe looked over when Beca read out loud what was written on the cake. There was nothing more she could do to keep the tears from running down her face. 

“You mean _so_ much to me, Chloe,” Beca grabbed Chloe's hands, “For a long time baking was the most important thing in my life, and when I lost that, I fled from all of my emotions and I buried myself in music,” Chloe could see the tears starting to spring up in Beca’s eyes and gave her a reassuring smile, “I think that without you, I never would have baked again in my life. You’re the reason for everything good in my life, you’re the reason I have the Bellas, you’re the reason I'm here in this house, the reason I'm in LA and following my dreams. But, if somehow I lost all of that, and you were the only thing left, I think my heart would still be just as full. I love you, Chlo. I’m _in love_ with you.”

Chloe smiled and put her hand on Beca’s cheek, “You have no idea how long I’ve waited for you to say that,” her voice wasn’t much louder than a whisper, “I love you too, _so much_.”

Chloe used her hand placement on Beca’s cheek to pull her into a soft kiss. It was probably one of the most gentle kisses Chloe had ever had in her life, but it was also more full of love than any other she had before. 

She felt Beca’s hands grab onto her waist as she brought her other hand up to Beca’s cheek. Chloe smiled into the kiss and wrapped her arms fully around her neck. She felt Beca’s arms come around her waist. She was grateful for Beca’s steady hold because nothing could have prepared her for the feeling of Beca’s tongue meeting hers for the first time.

Chloe wasn’t sure how long they were standing in the middle of their kitchen exchanging kisses. Eventually Beca pulled back, but she didn’t go far. She mumbled against Chloe's lips, “Do you want to try the cake?” 

“Yes please,” She gave Beca one last kiss before pulling away completely, “I didn’t get to try any of the cupcakes we made.”

Beca grabbed a plate out of the cupboard before she cut off a slice of the cake and put it onto the plate. She had grabbed two forks and gave one to Chloe.

Chloe used the fork to bring a bite of cake up to her mouth, she could feel Beca’s eyes on her the entire time, “ _Oh my god! Beca,_ ” Chloe had to bite back a moan at the taste.

“Is it good?” Beca sounded worried about her response.

Chloe hummed affirmatively, “It's _amazing_ ,” She looked back at the cake, “You really are terrible at decorating, though.”

Beca rolled her eyes, but she couldn’t keep the smile off her face, “Oh shut up, I hate you.”

“No, you don't. You love me,” Chloe looked back at Beca with a bright smile.

“Yeah, I really do.”

**Author's Note:**

> this is my [tumblr](https://someone--stupid.tumblr.com/) i am atrocious at posting but here it is anyway


End file.
